Description
Book SynopsisDrawing from extensive ethnographic research on abortion debates in public spaces, this book explores the beliefs, motivations and practices of UK anti-abortion activists. Whilst they represent a tiny minority, there is recent evidence of an increase in activism outside UK abortion clinics; faith-based groups regularly organise 'vigils' seeking to deter service users from entering clinics. In response to this, pro-choice groups launched a campaign for buffer-zones around clinics. Although there is overwhelming public support for abortion, it remains an area of public contestation that touches on ideas about bodily autonomy, religious freedom and reproductive rights. Despite being active in the UK since before the 1967 Abortion Act, anti-abortion activism has received little attention.
Taking a lived religion approach, Anti-Abortion Activism in the UK explores the sacred and profane commitments of anti-abortion activists and counter-demonstrations outside clinics, examining the contestations over space. The authors argue that as a moral reform social movement, the anti-abortion activists typically frame their activism in terms of risk and abortion harm, but their religiously-informed understanding of ultra-sacrificial motherhood as ‘natural’ for women undermines this framing. Their conservative gender and sexuality attitudes position them culturally as a moral minority. The displays of public religion are also anomalous in a country in which religion is usually seen as a private issue. Their presence outside abortion clinics causes a significant amount of distress, but public support for the establishment of safe zones outside of abortion-service provision is strong and is a proportionate response to safeguard the freedoms of those seeking abortion.
Trade ReviewIn this book Pam Lowe and Sarah-Jane Page have produced a compelling exploration of anti-abortion activism in the UK. Combining expertise from the fields of the sociology of reproductive health and the sociology of religion, Lowe and Page begin with a superbly detailed historical background of abortion law in the UK, this is followed by findings generated by lengthy primary research. The end result is a unique, richly layered insight into those who ascribe to anti-abortion positions that will be of interest to academics, students, faith communities, activists and the public at large.
-- Dr Fiona Bloomer, School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, Ulster University
This beautifully-written and carefully-researched book deepens our understanding of the different positions in the debate about abortion, presenting them as coherent but clashing moral stances. This is sociology of religion at its best - a timely reminder of why it is so important.
-- Professor Linda Woodhead, Lancaster University
The conceptual innovation in Pam Lowe and Sarah-Jane Page’s analysis of anti-abortion presence outside abortion clinics in the UK as lived religiosity makes fascinating reading. Detailed, insightful and thought-provoking.
-- Barbara Baird, Women’s & Gender Studies, Flinders University, South Australia
Anti-abortion ideology is often cloaked in claims to objectivity, whether it be through invoking claims of scientifical rationality or moral absolutism. In their book, Pam Lowe and Sarah-Jane Page combine the fields of the sociology of religion and reproductive health with 5 years of fieldwork amongst activists to return us to the central role religion plays in the motivations, worldviews, and actions of anti-abortionists. Their book provides both an overview of the politics of abortion in Britain and new and fresh insights, and thus will be of interest to students, specialists, and anyone with an interest in British abortion or religious cultures.
-- Dr Erica Millar, La Trobe University, Australia
Anti-Abortion Activism in the UK is a must read for any scholar, student or person interested in understanding the intractability of the contemporary conflict over abortion. Although modern activists package their opposition to abortion in secular paper to gain political traction with a public that largely views religion as a private matter, Lowe and Page’s meticulously researched, five-year ethnographic study reveals that the heart of the conflict is profoundly religious. Anti-Abortion Activism in the UK illuminates the degree to which anti-abortion activism is moored to a distinct worldview where the relationship between activists’ lived religion and opposition to abortion is inseparable. Drawing on multiple sources of data, Lowe and Page brilliantly demonstrate that an ultra-sacrificial construction of motherhood is centered as both sacred and profane in this worldview, which gives abortion opponents meaning and an indefatigable edge in their activism over both time and space.
-- Alesha E. Doan, School of Public Affairs & Administration, University of Kansas
Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Opposition to Abortion: A UK History
Chapter 3. Understanding Anti-abortion Activism as Lived Religion
Chapter 4. The Worldviews of Anti-abortion Activists
Chapter 5. Ultra-sacrificial Motherhood and the ‘Harms’ of Abortion
Chapter 6. Foetal Stories
Chapter 7. Being an Activist: Material Religion, Embodiment, and Spatiality
Chapter 8. The Pro-choice Response: Counterdemonstrations
Chapter 9. Abortion Cultures
Chapter 10. Conclusion
Appendix 1. The Research Journey
